Darron Cummings / Associated PressOhio State fans might wish it had taken something other than a loss to Purdue, but the setback seems to have changed Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor's (2) outlook.Updated at 12:15 a.m. Thursday.

COLUMBUS -- Ohio State fans looking for signs of growth from Terrelle Pryor received one Wednesday night. No player has ever won a game from the interview room, but for the first time in his career, the Buckeyes sophomore quarterback looked and sounded like he gets it, and he may be ready to change as a player and a teammate.

View full sizeTerry Gilliam / Associated PressOhio State quarterbacks coach Nick Siciliano, right, says Terrelle Pryor (2) seems more relaxed and that "the bricks are off the shoulders a bit."

It took a staggering loss at Purdue to make it happen, but if Pryor backs up his words and his attitude with his actions on the field, Ohio State may have a new quarterback on Saturday against Minnesota.

"Last week, that opened me up to the world and opened me up to myself and who I am as a person, and us as a team," Pryor said Wednesday. "Maybe that was the best thing that happened to us. Maybe we'll learn from it."

Pryor in the past has said the right things but never seemed to mean it as much as he does now. He said he shouldn't throw interceptions but pointed out what receivers could have done better. He took the blame for losses, but made it sound like he knew it was a thing quarterbacks were supposed to say. He told stories of studying film, then made the same types of mistakes while trying to force big plays. And, he admitted Wednesday, he got caught up in the trappings of what it means to be the Ohio State quarterback.

"Let's be real," Pryor said. "If any of us were the quarterback at Ohio State, and you've got all these people around you, you're sort of like a superstar. And you start maybe thinking too much maybe of yourself and losing your head a little bit and losing focus."

Last season, Pryor even said playing quarterback in the Big Ten was just like high school, and his play continued to reflect that attitude at times this season. But after speaking with University of Miami quarterback Jacory Harris, who has become a friend, as well as heeding advice from Cavaliers star LeBron James and Ohio State assistants Luke Fickell and Darrell Hazell, that old Pryor may be gone.

"I love him like a big brother," Pryor said of James. "He keeps me cool and keeps me calm a little bit, whenever he can get away."

Harris forced plays when the Hurricanes played Oklahoma, and after watching the Purdue game, he told Pryor, "You're doing the same thing I was doing."

Fickell, as co-defensive coordinator, told Pryor how difficult he was to defend and, according to Pryor, said: "You just need to relax and make plays. Just play your game. You're doing fine now, but take it to another level."

None of that is earth-shattering advice, but what matters is how it's received. There's a bit of amateur psychology in all sports. At quarterback, half the battle is in your head, and that's where most of Pryor's mistakes have come, from his decision-making to his apparent lack of purpose when he runs the ball at times. No matter how obvious the messages may seem to others, if Pryor is taking them to heart for the first time, it should affect his performance.

Being Terrelle Pryor seemed to have been getting to Terrelle Pryor. And the Purdue loss may have shaken him out of that.

"A kid comes in here that highly recruited, with that many expectations, sometimes the bricks keep piling up on his shoulders and it takes something to get them off," OSU quarterbacks coach Nick Siciliano said. "It seems like the bricks are off the shoulders a bit right now, and he has been more relaxed, which has been great."

Perhaps it shouldn't have taken a loss, but if it did, that's where the Buckeyes are now.

"The only way you usually grow is by learning hard lessons," Siciliano said. "I didn't think it would take [a loss]. You hoped it would be something else to feel a little more comfortable, but it is what it is."

Maybe it was just a good interview. Maybe he was just in a good mood. Maybe he'll throw the same picks and show the same frustration as he did when chastising receiver Duron Carter on the sidelines Saturday. But if there is something different about Pryor from now on, he agreed this may be the time when everything started to change.

"I just think I've been so tense and maybe handling things the wrong way, maybe not talking to my teammates the way I should, instead of being the leader I want to be," Pryor said. "We just need to turn this around, and we can do it. All we need is the fans' faith and the faith in each other that we have."

Maybe now there's a little more reason for those fans and teammates to have faith in Pryor.

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